Abstract

Sustainability of transport systems may require identifying critical determinants of modal split behaviours relating to modal choices of commuters. Commuters possess different personal characteristics that may predispose modal choices. These characteristics are pertinent and may be pointers to a sustainable transport system. This paper examined the status of different transport modes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, Nigeria, to understand how the information on the modal choices of commuters can bring back the envisioned sustainable transportation in the Federal Capital Territory. Authors engaged 243 commuters whose journey originated from 5 different locations in the outskirts of the city and 1 from within with various distances ranging from 31km to 9km into the inner city of Abuja. Survey items adopted for this study were administered to commuters through convenient sampling method in these locations. The results confirm different split behaviours based on gender and location cum distances travelled to the various destinations (Χ² = 18.281, p<0.01); (Χ² = 15.85, p<0.05). These results suggest that gender and distance are important factors the government may consider and incorporate into future decisions for urban transport planning in the city of Abuja. The utility theory was confirmed in our study through commuters’ decision to commute by tricycles despite the availability of more comfortable taxis that lack the value sought after by commuters. The choices expressed in this study relating to mobility patterns are relevant information for future policy consideration.

Key Words: Demographic, Modal split behaviour, Commuters, Sustainable transport system, Abuja